


Strength

by ThanksForListening



Series: Game of Thrones One Shots [2]
Category: Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Post 8x01, tw: rape
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-20
Updated: 2019-04-20
Packaged: 2020-01-22 20:59:39
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,054
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18535381
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThanksForListening/pseuds/ThanksForListening
Summary: Following her less than warm welcome, Daenerys seeks out Sansa to try and make peace with the Lady of Winterfell.





	Strength

**Author's Note:**

> although it's not graphic, there are mentions of rape so please be careful!

Daenerys wasn’t sure what to say. 

Standing on the edge of the deck, watching Sansa stare out at the rest of Winterfell, she thought back to her conversation with Missandei. They’d talked long into the night about their arrival, about the impending war, and about the Stark women, Sansa in particular. 

“She hates me,” Dany had said, “I didn’t think we’d be best friends after one meeting, but she looked at me like I’d killed her brother instead of returning with him.” 

“You have to give her time,” Missandei responded. “Talk to her. Be open with her. Let her get to know you not as ‘The Daughter of the Mad King’, or ‘The Mother of Dragons’, but just as Daenerys”. 

“But my titles are part of who I am,” she said. “They’re my legacy. How will she respect me without them?”

“I met you when you were nearly titleless,” Missandei said, “And I respect you _and_ I like you.” 

Dany laughed. “And if I talk to her and she still hates me?” 

Missandei shrugged. “It’s impossible to satisfy every citizen of Westeros. But it couldn’t hurt to try.” 

After their conversation, she’d woken up with a plan, to go find the Lady of Winterfell and have a conversation away from the prying eyes and ears of the Northern court, but now that she’d found her, she was at a loss for words. Instead, she observed the way Sansa watched her people, the way her eyes scanned the crowd. She hid it well, but Dany could see the wheels turning behind her eyes, the way she seemed to track each and every citizen. Here was a woman, she thought, who truly cared about her people. 

“Are you going to watch me all morning, Your Grace?” Sansa asked, snapping Dany out of her reverie and forcing her to walk out of her apparently lackluster hiding spot. 

“I mean no disrespect,” she said, walking forward until they were standing next to one another. 

“Is there anything I can do for you, Your Grace?” Sansa asked, the cold nature of her delivery eliminating any sincerity from the words themselves. 

“You can start by calling me Daenerys.” she said with a smile. “No need for all the pleasantries of court.” 

Sansa simply stared at her. “Is that all, _Your Grace?_ ”

Dany swallowed. “I was actually hoping that we could talk. I know that I -- that I’m not what you were expecting, when you sent Jon in search of allies. But I want to help, and I believe we’ll be able to achieve more if we can work together.”

Sansa said nothing, acting as if Dany hadn’t even spoken, ignoring her without outright dismissing her. Dany had to admit, the girl knew how to intimidate. 

“Jon spoke about you quite often on our way back to Winterfell,” she offered up. “I can tell that he truly respects you, although he did admit that you didn’t always get along when you were younger.” 

“You had a brother, Your Grace,” she replied, “I’m sure you understand the way siblings feud when they’re young. We may not have gotten along, but I’ve always loved him. We’re family.”

Dany nodded. “I’m afraid I can’t quite relate. My brother was a sadist who took great pleasure in treating me however he so pleased. He sold me into a marriage with Khal Drogo, a man I’d never met who spoke an entirely different language, when I was seventeen. I know that in some twisted way, he thought he loved me, but I can’t say the feeling was mutual.” 

Sansa stared at her now, and though she couldn’t place the emotion expressed on her face, Dany figured it was better than the nonchalance she’d been given thus far. 

“I’m sorry,” she said. 

Dany shrugged. “Unlike me, he was able to remember fleeing from King’s Landing, what life was like before having to constantly be on the run in order to avoid Robert’s wrath. He became so hateful, so resentful, and he took it out on me. Growing up, I listened to nearly everything he said -- about how the world works, about how rulers are supposed to act, about what our family deserved. I used to think he was right, about all of it. It took me longer than it should have to see that he let his anger and his thirst for vengeance consume him, corrupt him. I decided that I would never let it consume me.”

Sansa didn’t say anything. She simply turned her head back out toward Winterfell. Dany did the same. She noticed the way the people interacted with one another -- greeting each other as they passed by, sharing food and other goods with one another. Even with the impending war and the brisk climate, she could feel the warmth of Winterfell. It was no wonder Jon felt such a strong connection to his home. 

“I was married against my will as well. Twice, actually, although I was betrothed three times.” Sansa broke the silence, keeping her gaze forward. “I’d been betrothed since the day I was born, to the boy who ended up beheading my father.” 

This time it was Dany’s turn to apologize. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I suppose I was lucky, that I was able to grow to love my husband. Not that I thought I ever would, after he raped me on our wedding night.”

Sansa turned toward Dany, a shocked expression on her face. “He -- what?”

Thrown off slightly by Sansa’s sudden loss for words, Dany tried to explain. “Sex on the wedding night was expected, you see. He had no reason to believe I wouldn’t want to partake in it, and I didn’t think I was able to say no -- not to mention I couldn’t communicate with him yet. It wasn’t right, and I don’t forgive him for it, but I know that he loved me, and not the way my brother claimed to. I wasn’t a prize to be won to him -- I was his queen, his Khaleesi. A person in my own right, a person who he came to respect as his equal, even if his people didn’t.” 

Sansa quickly turned back toward Winterfell. Dany wasn’t sure what she’d done wrong, but she suddenly felt she’d overstepped somehow. 

“If I’ve caused you any harm, I apolo--”

“How can you just talk about it like that?” she asked, still refusing to face Dany. 

“Talk about what? Being raped?” 

Sansa nodded. She kept her gaze forward, focusing intently on Winterfell.

Dany shrugged. “What reason do I have to be ashamed of it? I was a seventeen year old girl, and my husband was the greatest warrior of the Dothraki. It’s not like I had any control over the situation. And later, when the Dothraki took me as their prisoner, and some of the men took their turns with me, I was in chains. I couldn’t fight back, and even if I could have, why should I feel shame for their behavior?” 

“Do,” she started, and Dany could have sworn her voice quivered, “do you still think about it?”

“You mean, do I still have nightmares about it?” she asked, and Sansa nodded slightly. “Sometimes. It was worse when it happened, obviously, but eventually it got better. It’s not something you can just forget, though.” She looked over at Sansa, and noticed the way she gripped the railing in front of her like it was the only thing keeping her tethered to the earth. She saw the look in her eyes, the way she stared out at nothing, and the realization came over her. 

“Oh, Sansa,” she said, heart breaking slightly. She proceeded carefully, not sure whether she was treading into territory she was forbidden from entering. “Sansa, I’m so sorry”.

“Don’t” she whispered, and for just a moment Dany could see the girl’s youth shine through her regal exterior. She wasn’t looking at the Lady of Winterfell anymore, but at a young girl who was trying very hard to not fall apart. Dany wished she didn’t recognize the look. 

“You don’t have to talk about it,” she started, “but I have to ask...I know you and Tyrion were forced into marriage, and if he hurt you I--”

Sansa’s eyes widened. “Oh, no. Tyrion didn’t -- we never -- no.”

Dany sighed in relief. She watched as Sansa smiled slightly, the first time she’d come close to smiling since their conversation began. “I dreaded marrying him at the time, and yet I never felt more safe in King’s Landing than when we were together.”

Dany smiled. “For someone who prides himself on his knowledge, it’s his ability to connect with people that makes him truly enjoyable to be around.”

Sansa smiled, but Dany could see it fading. She knew she should leave it alone, should walk away while the conversation was on a lighter topic, but she’d never been able to leave another woman in pain, not if she could help it. 

“You don’t have to tell me about it, nor would I expect you to,” she said slowly, “but do you have someone who you can talk to?”

Sansa nodded but kept her eyes cast outward. 

Dany sighed in relief. “Good. You can’t keep it inside. It’ll eat you alive if you don’t let it out.” 

“It makes me weak,” Sansa said, and Dany couldn’t tell if it was sadness or anger that was making her voice quiver. “If people found out, if they knew what he -- what Ramsay — they’d never respect me. They wouldn’t even see me as a Stark anymore.”

“You are not weak, Sansa,” Dany said. She placed a hand over Sansa’s, and watched as the young girl finally brought her eyes up to meet Dany’s. “The fact that you’re standing here makes you strong. Jon told me how you won the Battle of the Bastards, how you’ve kept your people warm and fed. You’re a survivor. You’re a Stark. Nothing can take that away from you.”

Sansa nodded, and Dany pretended not to see the tears starting to roll down the girl’s face. 

“I used to think that I was lesser, somehow, because of what happened,” Dany said, “but the longer I convinced myself that people would think I was weak for what had happened to me, the more I began to believe it myself. One day I realized I didn’t want to give those thoughts any more power than they already had.” 

Sansa said nothing. They simply stood there, side by side, two women who had fought the life they were given and come out the other side. Minutes passed. Dany could see the shift, the way Sansa stood a little taller, took slow, deep breaths, tried to put herself back together. Recognizing it as her cue to leave, Dany started to walk away. She stopped, after a few steps, and turned back, one last question resting on the tip of her tongue. “Does Jon know?”

Sansa looked down. “I’m not sure. He knows -- he knows that Ramsay was a monster. Everybody knows, but he never asked what he did to me, and I never told him. I -- Jon’s always wanted to protect me, protect everyone. I couldn’t let him feel like he failed me.”

Dany nodded. “I understand.”

“Please don’t tell him,” she said, looking up at Dany with a desperation she had yet to reveal. “Especially now, he needs to believe that he can still keep me safe, keep our family safe, even if it isn’t true.”

Dany put her hand over her heart. “He won’t hear anything from me, you have my word.”

Sansa sighed, just slightly. “Thank you, Daenerys.” 

Dany nodded, smiling as she walked away. As she entered the streets of Winterfell, she watched the world around her moving as it normally would, the people none the wiser to the revelations that happened above them. How many, she wondered, would the Lady of Winterfell let witness her vulnerability? How many people had she, Daenerys, allowed to witness this vulnerability? She’d been taught to hide it, to prevent anyone from writing her off due to the misperceptions of her sex; yet, the more she bore witness to, the more she began to believe that it was vulnerability that showed strength, much more so than a sword or even a dragon.

**Author's Note:**

> Kudos and comments give me life! they're v much appreciated! also hit me up on tumblr (@Thanks--for--listening) if u wanna yell about GOT. also i know this story touches really sensitive topics so if I need to adjust my tags at all pls let me know so i can fix it


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